


It's A Love Story (Baby, Just Say Yes)

by roseandheather



Category: British Actor RPF, Inspector Lynley Mysteries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-15
Updated: 2012-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-31 05:25:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/340415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseandheather/pseuds/roseandheather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sharon Small and Nathaniel Parker get quite a shock, or The One Where Sharie and Nat Figure Out What Barbara and Tommy Should Have Realised A Long Time Ago. Metafic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's A Love Story (Baby, Just Say Yes)

**Author's Note:**

> For Sharon, of course, in all her genius.
> 
> But first, last, and always, this is for Barbara.

 

“Come on, Havers, come on...”

His voice is pitched low and soothing, belying the energy crackling in every vein as he does his best to delay his reaction to the near-shooting long enough to take care of his partner. She’s gasping as though she’s just been saved from drowning, and now that the fury is gone the terror is beginning to take its place. Her body is starting to shake, and she’s leaning against him as though he’s the only thing holding her up.

“It’s okay, now.” Her sobs are beginning in earnest; she’s doing her best to fight them but she can’t help but lose it. He holds her tighter, rubbing her back soothingly, resting his cheek on her hair and bringing her even closer, trying to let her know she’s safe. He can feel his own tears threatening and lets loose with a couple of shaky half-sobs before he represses them ruthlessly and forces himself to focus on _her._ “Sshhhh...” – is he saying it to her or to himself?

She makes one last, valiant effort to hold herself together before she gives up the fight and lets go with a flood of hoarse, rasping sobs; helplessly she turns into his chest, buries her face in her hands and falls apart.

He holds her even closer, tucking her into the absolute safety of his arms as he kisses the top of her head and thanks God he has her safe.

As she fists her hands in his shirt and he lets his own tears fall, he flatly refuses to contemplate any alternative that leaves him without this woman in his life. She is more courageous, more genuine, more fiercely true to herself than anyone he has ever known.

He can no longer imagine his life without her.

~*~

“And – _CUT!_ That’s a wrap! _”_ At Brian’s order the cameras cut and print the scene, crewmen bustle about to reset lighting and grips run past with props. “Take five, everyone! Nat, Sharon, that was brilliant. Take an hour, get something to eat. We’ll start again after lunch with the ending scene.”

In the centre of the studio, all Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small can do is stare at each other.

“My God,” Nat says at last. “When the hell did he fall in love with her?”

Next to him, Sharon looks as blindsided as he feels. “I haven’t a bloody clue.” Her Glasgow accent, always more pronounced in times of high emotion, is as thick as treacle syrup now. She still has traces of tears on her cheeks, and her hair is in complete disarray, but she notices neither. She’s too busy staring at Nat and wondering what in the _hell_ had just happened.

“Come on, then,” she says finally. “You can buy me lunch.”

“Oh, I can buy _you_ lunch, can I?” She grins, and they fall into the familiar banter that marks both their professional and their personal relationship.

Some minutes later they’re sitting in the Thistle and Heather – Sharon’s choice, obviously – sharing fish and chips and sipping beer.

“So,” says Nat. “Any explanation for how we never noticed Barbara and Lynley felt that way about each other?”

Sharon shakes her head. “I really have no idea. If it helps, I don’t think _they_ know. I can tell you for sure Barbara doesn’t, at least not consciously. She’s still too convinced she’s destined to spend her life alone.”

“Lynley’s not much better,” Nat remarks around a particularly large chip. “He’s still busy trying to cram Helen into a slot already destined for Barba – _whoa.”_

“Well,” remarks Sharon eventually, “I take it we’ve settled the question as to whether or not _we_ know where this relationship is going.”

“I’ll say. The question now is, do we want to let them play it that way? Do we want to give the subtext free rein, now that we know it’s there?”

They look at each other for a moment – colleagues, co-stars, _friends_ – before identical grins spread across their faces and they speak as one.

“ _Hell yes.”_

Right then Sharon’s mobile rings, and her face lights up when she sees the number. “Hello, love. How are you?”

Nat grins and settles back in his chair as he watches his co-star babble happily to her boyfriend – Dan, he remembers (nice guy, clearly adores Sharon – definitely in Nat’s good books for that) – about the morning’s shoot. Her laughter bubbles out, silvery, as she listens to him talk, and for a moment he desperately wishes he could call Anna. But she’s in a closed rehearsal, and the director will have his hide if he disturbs her again.

When she hangs up ten minutes later, she looks up to see him regarding her with a peculiar, tender smile on his face.

“He’s the one, isn’t he, Sharie?”

“Yeah,” she sighs happily. “He is. He really is.”

Nat grins. “Good. He’s clearly madly in love with you. Really, Sharie, what took you two so long?”

She ducks her head and smiles. “I really don’t know. But I’m glad I caught a clue. He makes me happier than – than I’ve ever been, really. He grounds me, you know?”

“Yeah.” Wistfully, Nat thinks of Anna. “Yeah, I do.”

“Oh, shite.” Sharon glances at her watch. “We have a quarter-hour to get back to the studio. Let’s get moving, partner.”

They come flying through the doors exactly fourteen minutes later, laughing like lunatics, and they both have to douse their faces in cold water before they can settle into the mood for the last scene of the episode. Smiling still, Nat takes Sharon’s hands in his. “Ready for this, love?”

She beams back at him, all sunshine and roses. “Let’s do this.”

By the time they’re in position, all traces of Sharon are gone, and Barbara Havers stands in front of him, love for her partner glowing in her eyes as plain as day.

Taking a deep breath, Nat lets Lynley wash over him, around him, and into him, and when he opens his eyes again he’s in a small English town outside a tiny pub, reconnecting with the one person he almost lost and could never bear to lose – and this time, there is no doubt about just what their two characters feel for each other.

When Brian calls for a print, Sharon winks at him.

This is just the start.

~*~

When he spills the story to Anna later that night, she rolls her eyes and tells him she’s known how Barbara and Lynley were going to feel about each other since the end of the first half of the pilot, and when he indignantly asks her why she never bothered to tell _him_ about it, she retorts that she didn’t expect him to take this long to figure it out and wanted to know how long it would be before they finally caught a clue.

“She’s perfect for him,” Anna says between gulps of Coke. “And he obviously cares more about her than he does about anyone else. Please. This has been a long time coming.”

He can’t help but agree with her. In retrospect, their developing love story is obvious to anyone with eyes.

“Oh, you know what else has been a long time coming?” he asks a couple minutes later. “Sharon and Dan.”

“He’s the one, is he?” Anna’s obviously wriggling in delight at the idea that there’s a real-life romance in the works, and her enthusiasm is infectious.

“She told me so herself at lunch. You should see her, Anna. She lights up like a sunbeam whenever she says his name.”

“I’m so glad. If anyone deserves it, she does. Now, the kids are both with friends for the weekend, so are you going to take me to bed, or not?”

He grins devilishly. “Your wish, my lady, is my command.”

~*~

When they wrap the series three years later, he kisses Sharon’s forehead and hugs her tight.

“Nat? Do you think they’ll ever get their happy ending?”

“No, Sharie. Remember that last bridge scene? ‘Welcome back, you,’? And the way they were with each other this episode? I think they already got it. I mean, it may take them awhile to make it official – but there’s no doubt now about the path they’re on. They got it.”

Her face softens considerably, and she wipes a stray tear from the corner of her eye. “Yeah. I think they did, too.”

He rests his chin on the top of her head. “I love them, you know? I really do. They’re not just characters. Not to me.”

“I know. They’re friends, now. I’m so glad we gave them each other, Nat.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”  Bittersweet, he grins. “Go, Sharie. Someone’s waiting for you.”

She squeezes him tight one last time. “Stay in touch, you.”

“Always. Sharon? I love you.”

When she looks at him, her eyes are wet and her face is wreathed in smiles. “I know, Nat. I love you, too.”

He kisses her forehead one last time, then has to fight his own tears as she kisses his cheek before she runs across the studio to throw herself into Dan’s waiting arms.

Beyond them, half-hidden in shadows, a familiar figure is watching him.

_Anna._

He starts to run.

**Author's Note:**

> Nathaniel has said outright that he and Sharon became "good mates" during the show, and that he sees her as his little sister. He has also said that the worst part about _Lynley_ ending was not getting to spend five months of the year working with her. Awww! While we don't have anything from the quite shy Sharon's perspective, one can only assume that he's not alone. 
> 
> So, this is for not only Barbara and Tommy, but for Sharie and Nat. May their friendship live on though the show does not!


End file.
